Road Trip
by ReddTwilight
Summary: After nearly losing Edward to the Volturi Bella just can't get 'what if' out of her mind. Edward decides some time away alone will do her some good.
1. Please

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight in any way, and give all credit to Stephenie Meyer, and also take no credit for any references made to the novels and movie. Also, I make no money from these stories, they are for the enjoyment purposes of the fans.

A/N: Here's the new fic everyone! Hope you all like it! It contains spoilers for both the first and second novels, mostly the second, and takes places immediately after the end of "New Moon", you know give or take a week. But again, don't try and make this fit into the timeline or storyline of the novel, again, it won't work. It's strictly for your enjoyment and not to confuse anyone.

ENJOY!!

ReddTwilight

~*~*~*~*

Chapter 1: Please

My nightmares were really beginning to take their toll, I could see it on my face every morning when I looked in the mirror. Edward never said anything, about the nightmares or the exhaustion circles under my eyes. It was the same routine from when he had been gone from my life. Not that I wanted any reminder of that part of my life. I woke up in the middle of the night my screams muffled by Edward's chest. The last time this happened I would actually shoot up in bed screaming. But now Edward would just stroke my back until I managed to fall back asleep. Most nights, however, I couldn't. It was the same nightmare every night, too. Another painful reminder of my time alone.

Edward was rolling on the floor of the Volturi chamber cringing and crying out in pain. Jane stood above me smiling at me with the evilest, most menacing grin as she enjoyed Edward's pain. And just when I thought his pain couldn't get any worse Edward would let out a loud shout. It was the worst noise I'd ever known. That was when I usually woke up in a cold sweat. Edward hadn't cried out like that in Volterra, he hadn't made any noise at all when Jane attacked him. But he always cried out in my dreams. That's what made them so much worse. And I didn't think anything could have been worse than what I had seen there.

I was wrong.

What if I hadn't reached Edward in time? I didn't want to think about it. Didn't want to think about my life without him in it-permanently. Once was more than enough. Although, if they had killed Edward they would have killed me as well. Humans weren't supposed to know about vampires. So in theory, I wouldn't have suffered for long without him.

I had to stop doing this to myself. It was starting to show on Edward's face as well. The deep purple circles under his beautiful golden eyes that were normally from thirst were now from worry. I didn't want him worrying about me. The last thing I wanted to do was cause him pain on any level for any reason.

As he normally did, Edward folded me tighter into his arms drawing the blanket up to my shoulder. He slept on top of the quilt knowing how his cold skin made me shudder. I didn't care about that so long as he was here with me. He was next to me, tangible and real. As long as I had that I didn't a damn about feeling cold.

When morning came Edward made his usual promise to see me at school. I was forced to drive my truck right now since I was grounded. Charlie was beyond pissed at me right now. Let me count the ways… Cliff diving, motorcycle riding, and , oh yeah… Disappearing for three days with just an obscure note as my explanation. But I wouldn't trade any of it. It had all, in one way or another, gotten Edward permanently back into my life.

I went through my usual morning routine, shower, hair, and teeth. I hardly ever wore makeup beyond a little bit of eye shadow. I dressed quickly, wanting to get out of the house back to Edward. I stumbled as I pulled my socks on, tripping over me sneakers. I grabbed my bag when I was done and headed downstairs.

"Hey, Dad." I said quietly. I dropped my bag by the front door and went about making a bowl of cereal.

"Hi." Charlie said gruffly from the couch. He still wasn't on speaking terms with me. I could only imagine the thoughts that had gone through his mind when he came to my note. His friend had just died and he was just coming home from the funeral. It must have really messed with his mind. He must have thought I was leaving him again, and for the same reason as the first time I'd "left". No wonder Charlie detested my boyfriend so much right now.

"You ever going to talk to me again?" I asked chewing on my cereal. I got a ,'hmph', return. "Whatever." I mumbled to myself. I finished my cereal and cleaned my bowl in the sink then placed it upside down in the dish drain. I grabbed my bag and called out a goodbye to Charlie before I left. I still got no answer. I hope me slamming the door got his attention. Probably not.

Edward was waiting for me at school leaning against his Volvo with the same blank look on his face like he had every other morning the sun wasn't shining. I walked over to him, his expressionless face breaking into a small smile when he saw me. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and walked us up the stairs to the main doors. I reached up with me left hand to take his and threaded our fingers. He surprised me by leaning down and kissing me. Edward normally wasn't one for public displays of affection, but I could tell from the pressure of his icy lips on mine that he was just as glad to have me back as I was to have him. It must have been sheer torment for him to think that I was dead. Like the torment I was feeling now every time I thought the words, 'what if'…

~*~*~*

"I'm going to take you away for a week." Edward said at lunch. It wasn't a request so much as a promise.

I looked up from my soup the plastic spoon dropping from my hand. Edward reached across the table and placed it back between my fingers. He then folded his arms on the table. "You need to get away for a while. Relax your mind. We can tell Charlie you're just going camping with my family." Edward shrugged.

I was intrigued by proposition, I did need to get away, but lying to Charlie was probably the worst thing I could do right now considering how things were between us. I remained silent as I finished my minestrone then pushed the empty Styrofoam cup and used spoon away from me.

"What do you say? Carlisle has this cabin up in the wilderness in Alaska. It's not far from Tanya's family in Denali."

Tanya and her sisters, Irina and Kate along with a coven almost as large as the Cullens lived in a permanent residence in Denali, Alaska. They, like Edward's family, also only fed on the blood of animals.

"How far?" I asked, folding my arms on the table to mirror him.

"Far enough." Edward answered, smirking. I knew he couldn't read my thoughts, although sometimes I wish he could, and I knew he was smirking at the question hiding behind the one I had asked. He had heard it my tone.

"I don't know, Edward. I don't think lying to Charlie is a good idea."

"True." Edward tilted his head to the side. "Sorry, maybe another time, then." He picked up my trash and started to get up but I reached across the table catching his wrist. He looked down at me.

"But I can always try." I smiled up at him and he returned it, flashing his crooked grin that I loved. He walked off to throw my trash out and then came back.

"So let's try today." He said excitedly. "I'll take you away on Saturday. Tanya would need a couple days to get it ready anyway. It probably hasn't been used in decades."

I laughed quietly at Edward's use of time. He said it so casually. Decades to vampires were like single years to a human, in terms of lifespan and longevity.

"Today might not be good. Charlie still isn't speaking to me."

Edward leaned across the table and lowered his voice so only I could hear. "Want me to come along? I can be very persuasive." He offered.

I shook my head vehemently. "No. BAD idea. That would really set Charlie off. He absolutely abhors you right now. He blames you for making me leave, again."

"It was my fault, Bella." Edward said sitting back in his chair. "The first time, too, but that one was out of my control. Remember?"

"I'd rather not." I said averting his gaze.

"Sorry." He mumbled. The memories from a year ago were still as painful for him as they were for me, if not more painful. My eyes drifted to the scar on my palm where James had bit me. I traced the cool, pale crescent with my finger. Edward reached out and grabbed my hand. I looked up at him, surprised. His golden eyes bore into mine with intensity. "Don't think about it, Bella." He said, his tone serious. "It's over now."

I knew he was talking about more than just a sadistic tracking vampire.

~*~*~*~*

"Dad?" I called when I got home. No answer. His cruiser was in the driveway. He couldn't avoid me forever, I was his daughter. And only child on top of that. I found him in the kitchen reading the paper at the table, an untouched glass of water in front of him. "Dad, we have to stop this." I said dropping my bag by the stairs. I looked at him, glared really. He stopped reading for a moment to gaze up at me then sighed loudly and returned to the paper. "Dad, you have to talk to me eventually." I tried again. I didn't want to threaten him, but it was coming down to that. "You can't stay mad at me forever." My last attempt.

"I won't." He grumbled. "Just until I get over it."

That was the most he'd spoken to me in over a week. I was shocked, and it showed. "It's very unbecoming of a young lady for her to stand there with her mouth hanging open." He mumbled not looking up at me.

I shut my mouth.

"What is it, Bella?" he asked putting the paper down.

"I want to ask you a favor." I said sitting down across from him so our eyes were almost level.

"Depends." Charlie crossed his arms leaning back in his chair. "And it have nothing to do with you trying to get out of being grounded."

"It does." I stated.

"No," Charlie said throwing his hands in the air as he got up. "Out of the question."

I stood as well. "Dad, just listen to what it is first before you make a decision."

"No. You're not going anywhere besides school and work until I've decided it's been long enough." Charlie said firmly, yanking the fridge door open and starting to search for something. He had probably done it to keep from looking at me.

"Do you really want me to go crazy, Dad?" I said raising my voice a little. "Get depressed again? Because that's what going to happen if you keep me cooped up here any longer." Now I was yelling. Charlie looked up at me from the fridge, a beer in his hand. So there had been a purpose to his rummaging. I felt slightly less stung.

"What would breaking your grounding entail? Where would you be going if I let you out?"

"Camping." I said simply.

"With…?"

"Edward's family."

"No." Charlie said shutting the fridge and walking over to the counter.

"Dad!" I yelled, following him.

"You're not going anywhere with him." Charlie snapped at me. He began digging through a drawer for a bottle opener.

"Dad, he's my boyfriend! Please!" I begged.

"That's why you're not going. He's caused enough trouble in your life, it's time to let it go." He popped the cap off of his beer and took a long sip.

"Never, I love him."

"You're eighteen-years-old, Bella, you don't know what love is."

I considered throwing that back in his face with a nasty comment about mom and him, but I bit my tongue.

"Dad, it's their annual family camping trip next week. Edward invited me today. Please, let me go." I was so close to actually getting down on my knees and folding my hands while pouting and giving him "puppy dog" eyes, but I knew it would never work.

Charlie was silent for a minute as he thought. He studied his beer while he was lost in thought and took another sip. "His whole family would be going? Parents too?"

"Yup, everyone." I lied. It sounded so straightforward and convincing, even I believed it.

"So you would be missing a week of school and work?"

"Yeah. I would." I confirmed for him. If he was getting close to caving, I wasn't going to give him reason to revoke it later on.

Charlie stared at me for a long moment, taking a third sip. "Fine," he said setting the beer on the counter. "I'll think about. When do they need to know by?"

"Friday. Oh, Dad thank you!" I started toward him to hug him but I stopped myself. Charlie wasn't the hugging type. I reached down and patted his hand instead. "I promise you won't regret this."

"Uh, huh. The last time you said that I let you climb a tree and you fell out breaking your arm."

"I won't do that this time, I swear."

"I never said you could go, Bella. I said I would think about it." Charlie picked his beer back up.

"I know." I said looking up at him beaming. "But at least you're considering keeping my sanity in check and not giving me a flat out no."

Charlie looked down at me disapprovingly. "Don't you have homework to do?" he said tersely.

"Right, yeah ok. Well, thanks again, Dad. For considering it." I walked out of the kitchen grabbing my bag and bounding up the stairs tripping in my haste.

Another thing I had to work on.

~*~*~*~*


	2. Permission

ENJOY!!

ReddTwilight

Chapter 2: Permission

The next day at school I told Edward the news that Charlie had decided to at least think about it letting me go "camping". He smiled at me warmly in the lunch line picking up food for me. Lately my taste had been running toward soup but Edward always put more on the tray than I would ever finish. I knew why, so people thought he was eating as well.

"So it's safe to say he's talking to you again?" Edward asked as he paid. We walked over to the table and sat down.

"Yeah, I suppose, for the time being."

"What do you think he'll say?" Edward asked handing me the cup of chicken noodle. I picked up the spoon and popped the plastic lid off the container.

"We could always ask Alice." I said taking a spoonful and blowing on it before I ate it.

"No, that's cheating." Edward smiled playfully at me. "Besides, I like the suspense."

"You can't hear what he's thinking right now?" I asked, surprised.

"I'm tuning his thoughts out. The suspense is better, and I think it'll do you some good to worry about that for a day than the other things that have been perturbing your mind lately."

I nodded in silent agreement and continued eating. Edward looked away for a couple minutes watching everyone else around the cafeteria. "So what explanation did you lie with?" he asked looking back to me.

I swallowed the spoonful in my mouth. "I told him it was your family's annual camping trip next week. He asked if you're parents were going and I said yes."

"Good. I clued Carlisle in last night, just in case. He hates lying as much as you do, but when I explained the reason for it that you need to you know… get your mind out of Italy, he understood and agreed to it."

I nodded as I swallowed another spoonful, forcing thoughts of the Volturi from my mind. I was starving right now so I concentrated on my food. I had skipped breakfast this morning because I had been in such a rush to see Edward. Thankfully Charlie had left early so he hadn't seen how bubbly I was. It would have tipped him off that I was far too excited to go camping. Before going to bed last night he had knocked on my door and stuck his head in. His only question was again if he let me go would I be sharing a tent with Edward. I asked back if it was bad thing if I did, but then I assured him I wouldn't and I would share with Alice and Rosalie. Charlie had seemed convinced then shut my door.

"Can I come over yet?" Edward asked, breaking me from my reverie.

I shrugged as I ate my soup. "I didn't ask him that. I didn't want to push him last night." I said as I slurped a noodle quietly. Edward shook his head at me smirking, dropping his gaze to the table for a moment then looking back up. "You really are fascinating." He said the smile still on his face.

"To watch eat?" I asked, hoping he would clarify.

"To watch you do anything. My favorite is sleeping, but you already knew that." He said. I nodded, smiling at him. I finished my soup pushing the cup and spoon away from me as usual. "Do you want anything else?" he asked glancing at the tray in front of him. I grabbed a bag of pretzels and popped it open.

"So tell me about the cabin." I said as I munched on the sourdough sticks.

Edward leaned back in his chair with a knowing smile and crossed his arms. "I've been inside only once, and that was a long time ago. But I know Carlisle asked Tanya to keep it up to date as time goes by in case any of us want to go back. When you and I made it official he had Tanya put a bed in the only bedroom and added other human necessities to the cabin."

"Like a kitchen and bathroom?"

"No those were already there, the rooms just remained unused. I know she added a more updated stove and appliances to the kitchen. A huge fridge for one thing and replaced the tub in the bathroom. I think it was this really outdated tub, too, with the claw feet on it… But I think now it's this huge standing shower, all glass."

"What it is with your family and glass?"

Edward shrugged. "The whole back of the cabin is glass now, like our house, but for a very good reason. The cabin is one story and the back of it faces west and there's this beautiful view of a river and valley beyond that. You can watch the sun set perfectly. It's really beautiful, Bella. The outside is faded wood with green shutters and a brick chimney. The fireplace is in the living room. Every room in the cabin except the kitchen has medium hue hard wood floors. The living room and bedroom have white wood paneling, the bathroom has white tile and the kitchen is finished in cream wallpaper with white trim."

"Sounds enchanting." I breathed.

"I haven't been there in over fifty years so I really don't know what it looks like right now. Tanya keeps it well maintained. I know her family uses it from time to time just to get away from Denali for a couple months at a time. Carlisle doesn't care."

"How did Carlisle acquire it?" I asked.

"He and Esme were hunting one afternoon when we lived in Denali and they came across it. It was dilapidated and falling apart everywhere, but Esme fell in love with it at once. Knew it would be the perfect place for Carlisle to do his studying, so she fixed it up for him. He used it, too, for a while, and then we moved back down here. It's buried deep in the woods. For any human to find it they would first have to know exactly where it is and then how to get to it."

I laughed out loud. That would be someone like me. And even if I had step-by-step directions on how to get to it, I would still manage to get lost. I sat there lost in thought, my pretzels forgotten, as I imagined this quaint little cabin. It sounded so utterly fairly-taleish, I was having a hard time believing it was real. Edward looked over my shoulder as I mused, smiling at the dreamy look on my face. Eventually he got up taking the tray and my trash with him to throw it out. I got up after him picking up my bag. He threw an arm over my shoulders as we walked out, laughing at my failed attempt to wipe the dopey smile from my face.

~*~*~*~*

The next morning I came downstairs to find a huge brown paper bag on the kitchen counter and a small plastic container sitting next to it. I knew it could only be one thing. Charlie and Renee were more alike than they thought. I opened the bag and inhaled the warm scent of fresh bagels then picked up the tub of homemade cream cheese. Vegetable, my favorite. Tapped to the top was a note written in Charlie's rough, hurried scrawl.

You can go, Bells, I'm over it for now. I'll call Edward's parents later to let them know. Have fun and enjoy breakfast.

He hadn't signed it. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face as I popped half of a sesame bagel in the toaster. Surprise bagels had always been Renee's way of forgiving me as well. However, in Phoenix, they had occurred a lot more often. I always managed to do something to set her off week to week, and she didn't like to be angry for too long at one person. I was the same way. Charlie was the one to hold a grudge.

I was just spreading the cream cheese when a familiar rhythmic knocking sounded on the front door. I hurried over to open it and Edward greeted me with his dazzling smile and a light kiss.

"Let me guess," I said taking a bite of my bagel. It was delicious. Victory always made everything taste better. "Alice saw Charlie caving, didn't she?"

"Sort of but not really. She saw us at the cabin tomorrow so she knew he would say yes. After she told me I figured I'd better head over here so you don't explode with glee before getting to school. I know you wouldn't have been able to contain it." He smiled at me.

"That was probably a good idea." I bit into my bagel again, chewed and swallowed. "I wouldn't have been able to contain it, you're right." I imagined myself jumping up and down like a five-year-old clapping elatedly because I'd just been told I was going to Disneyland for the first time. I smirked at the thought and almost choked on my bagel.

"What?" Edward asked laughing at me. I told him what I thought and he laughed out loud. "You would too."

"Yeah, I'm still a kid at heart. Always will be."

Edward rumpled my hair and kissed the top of my head. "What time is Charlie going to be back tonight?" he asked.

"It's Friday so early. Why?" I finished my bagel and walked to the sink to wash my hands.

"I was going to come over later and help you pack. I'm assuming you've hardly ever gone camping and might need a little instruction."

"For appearance sake, right?"

"Yeah. Everyone else is going on a trip next week anyway, just not camping. So this works out really well."

"Hunting?" I asked as I stuffed a couple books into my bag. Edward took it from me and we headed for the door.

"Yeah. It's been years since we all just "slowed down" and enjoyed the hunt. Normally when we feed we do it quickly for the necessity of it and come right back, but Rosalie and Jasper have been restless lately and Carlisle is being pestered at the hospital to take some vacation time so he took next week off. They'll all split up, you know Rosalie and Emmett will go off together, Jasper and Alice, Esme and Carlisle… Then they'll all meet up together around the middle of next week and hunt together." Edward explained as we walked to his car and got in.

"I should leave Carlisle's number for Charlie. Just in case." I said as I buckled my belt.

"'Charlie won't call. He trusts you." Edward said starting the car. I glanced over him not believing him. "For now." He added with a smirk, and pulled away from my house.

~*~*~*~*


	3. Road Trip

ENJOY!!

ReddTwilight

P.S. I take no credit for the song in this chapter "I Caught Myself" by Paramore. Nor the references to the first novel, "Twilight".

~*~*~*~*

Chapter 3:

I was surprised in the evening when Charlie let Edward into the house. We had just finished dinner, I had made some of the fish that was starting to set up an empire in the freezer, in terms of its population size. Charlie should really cut back on the fishing or he should pick a spot where they don't bite as much.

Bite. Ha. I laughed quietly to myself.

Charlie didn't say anything in greeting when Edward arrived, just eyed him suspiciously as we walked upstairs together, me in front him following. "Leave your door open, Bella." He called up to us as we reached the landing.

"Don't worry, Dad." I called back looking around the corner. I waved a piece of paper. "We're just going over a list of things Edward made up that I'll need."

"Uh, huh." Charlie muttered from the bottom of the stares.

"Dad, chill, ok. We're not like that."

"Ok, Bella, whatever you say." Charlie walked back into the living room and I heard the TV turn on. At least he was being civil. I couldn't really ask for much more than that right now.

I shut my bedroom door leaving it merely cracked then turned to face my room. It was an utter mess. I had been going through my limited wardrobe this afternoon trying to find a suitable amount to last me for a week alone with Edward. I didn't want to pack things that were overly revealing, I knew how much trouble it would cause, but I wanted things that were practical and attractive. I was S.O.L as Renee would say. I had nothing to meet that description.

Edward took the paper from me and crumpled it noiselessly before tossing it in my trash and hopping up onto my bed without making it creak. He reclined back against the wall folding his hands behind his head. I shook my head at him and rolled my eyes. They fell onto the large weekend bag at the foot of my bed that contained nothing but underwear and pajamas. Next to it was my toiletry bag full of mini necessities, toothbrush, and hairbrush, and a book.

Edward watched me as with a smirk on his face as I went through my clothes for a third time. "That's nice." He said gazing at me as I held a blue button down that was cut to fit the curves of woman's body. I held it up to myself and looked in the mirror.

"It's ok I guess." I watched the reflection of Edward get off the bed and walk over to stand behind me. He placed his hands over mine where I held the shirt up.

"It's lovely. I love that shade of blue on you. It brings out the color in your complexion."

"What color?" I asked sarcastically, turning to face him. Our mouths were less than an inch apart, our breath caressing each other faces.

Edward didn't respond to my remark. He took the blouse from my hand moving it away to the floor and then proceeded to close the space between us. His kiss was soft and gentle. I returned it, pushing him back slowly until his the backs of his knees hit my bed and he was forced to sit. He drew me down onto his lap, falling to the bed and holding me above him never breaking our embrace. My knees fell to either side of his body. Edward took my face between his hands threading his fingers into my hair and pulling me closer to deepen the kiss. My hand drifted aimlessly up and down his torso before stopping at the top of his shirt and undoing a button. Edward pulled back with a gasp staring at me for a moment before pushing me away slowly.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly.

"It's not your fault." Edward sat up and red did the button then swung his legs over the side of the bed letting his head fall into his hands. I breathed quietly behind him trying to wash out the desire that was coursing through me right now. That had been the closest we'd ever gotten. Edward had no contemplation of how badly I desired him every time he kissed me. I just wish I knew that he felt the same.

"Edward?"

"Yes?" he answered quietly, and turned to face me. I inched a little closer to him, hesitantly. Edward swung his legs back up onto the bed and leaned against the wall opening his arms to me. I crawled into them, not getting too close, but close enough for him to hold me. "I'm sorry, Bella. I just can't lose control. You understand."

"Yes, Edward." I whispered. "I understand."

~*~*~*

There was no sleep for me that night. I lay in my too warm bed thinking of the kiss with Edward and fantasizing the end of it. I did not allow my thoughts to stray farther than that. I knew it would never happen. Edward would never succumb to his physical yearnings in that way. No matter how much I can see he wants to, no matter how he tries to hide it. Edward was not a person to give in to physical gratification. It doesn't matter how he desires it, how much it utterly torments him to deny his urge, and not just for my blood. I could feel that in his embrace, how he loves me so much and wants me. If only he would tell me…

Edward was not as reserved as he thought he was. Perceptive… He would tell me, in his smooth voice. But not really. Last night his kiss had told me more than he possibly wanted me to know. No, it had told me more than he wanted me to know. I am absolutely certain that he does not want to give me the wrong idea, to not lead me on. But I was already this far gone from the moment of our first kiss. The initial feel of his lips on mine had been so intense I couldn't help myself. I wanted all of him. I'd grabbed him, burying my fingers in his silken bronze hair and held him close. That had been the moment when he backed away, turning to stone in my arms. It had stung, but I understood his reason, as I understand it now.

No matter.

I put the thoughts from my mind and rolled over to face my window and stare at the moon outside, knowing Edward would not be climbing through this window tonight. I suppose one more night…alone, I shuddered at the thought, would not be so bad if I was getting all of next with him.

Alone.

~*~*~*

I was up before Charlie in the morning, in the mental sense, and showered quickly. My sleepless night of musings had left my brain wired and restless. Edward wouldn't be here to whisk me away for a couple more hours and I still had a bag to pack. After dressing in some old sweats and light but warm pullover I began my fourth scouring of my wardrobe. I eventually got to the blue blouse and picked it up staring at it for a moment before folding it and throwing it the bag. I wondered idly if it would provoke the reaction if Edward saw it again, but on me this time. Doubtful, but one could always hope, right? After a frustrating fruitless endeavor I finally settled on jeans, t-shirts, and thermal pullovers. I dumped a half dozen pairs of balled up socks, a sweatshirt and my old sneakers in that bag placing my toiletry bag and book on top zipping it shut and dropping it by my door. The entire process had taken over an hour so now I only little time left to wait. I wanted so badly to jump up and down on my bed in joy, but Charlie was moving around now.

There was a knock on my door and Charlie stuck his head in. "Hey, Bells. Whoa, what happened in here?" He asked walking in and looking around at what was left of my clothes strewn all over from the closet to the window, not that it was a far distance.

"Uh… I have nothing to wear, so…" I shrugged.

"Well, it might just be me, but I thought we were a little out of tornado range." He teased.

"I'll clean right now, Dad." I smiled back, and began scooping clothes from my floor. Charlie stood there silent for a moment, leaning on my door post with one arm. "Look, I have to go work now, Bella, but I just wanted to wish you a good time and ask you to do me one favor."

I looked up at him from my gathering. "Sure, Dad, what is it?"

"Try not to fall down too much. I know Carlisle is very skilled at his practice but there's only so much a doctor can do in the wilderness."

"Dad, don't worry. I'll be careful." I assured him as I dumped the pile of clothes on my closet floor and shut it.

"Thanks, Bells. Uh… Ok. I'm gonna go now. I'll see you when you get back." Charlie paused in the door, turning back over his shoulder. "Have a good time."

"I will, and I swear not to fall down… Too much."

Charlie chuckled and raised one hand in a motionless wave before departing. I went to the window to watch him drive off, and not two minutes after he was gone Edward's silver Volvo appeared in front of my house. I smiled down at him and shook my head. He returned it waving. 'Be right down' I mouthed to him. He nodded, holding up a small brown paper bag. Breakfast. I left Carlisle's number on a note for Charlie and taped it to the fridge. On my way out I left my house key under the eave as well then turned and walked toward Edward.

"You look utterly exhausted." He observed handing me the bag once I was outside. He grinned down at me and rumpled my hair. "You didn't sleep last night, did you?"

I opened the bag and pulled the donut out. "No not one bit." I said taking a bite.

"That's why I brought the sugar, and this." He pulled a small cup of coffee out from behind his back placing it in my hand. "I figured you would too excited too sleep."

I took the coffee from him and sipped it. He had added just enough milk and sugar to it. It was perfect. "You could call it excitement." I said, and stood up on my toes to kiss him. His response startled me and I nearly dropped the cardboard cup in my hand. His buried his hands in my hair pulling me close. I let my mouth open under his and sighed. Edward did the same and my breath caught in my throat. This was too good. He pulled back finally and my eyes opened slowly to see him smile adoringly at me.

"Ready?"

"Uh huh." Was all I could say. Edward took my bag from me and threw it in the trunk while I got in the car and put my seatbelt on. I quickly finished my donut and coffee throwing the cup in the bag and dropping it to the floor. Edward was already next to me starting the engine. He hit the locks and pulled away. Not five into the drive I began yawning.

"Want more coffee?" Edward asked. "We have a long drive and you might want to stay awake to enjoy the scenery."

"Caffeine and I don't get along to start with so I don't know why you even got me one cup."

"You needed it, be honest."

I shook my head at him. "All forests look the same." I mumbled. Edward breathed a laugh from his nose. "But, yeah, you're right. I need the jolt." I yawned again and slumped my head against the window as I watched the town of Forks fly by at over fifty miles an hour. "How long of a drive?"

"The last time I made this trip it took me a little more than twelve hours, but I was driving very, very fast."

"And how fast do you intend on driving this time?"

"About the same. Since we're heading out so early, we should be there by tonight. We'll stop along the way when you need to. I tried to time this right so we'll be passing through a mountain range when the sun goes down."

"You don't need to try and impress me Edward."

"I'm not. I just thought it would be soothing to you."

"Your voice is soothing to me." I muttered into the window. "So very soothing." I glanced over my shoulder at him and watched him smile to himself as he reached for the CD player and hit PLAY. He kept the volume low.

"Go to sleep for now, Bella. I'll wake you later." Without deviating from the line he followed on the road Edward leaned over and kissed the side of my head.

"You're pushing and pulling me down to you. But I don't know what I want. No, I don't know what I want. You got it, you got it. Some kind of magic. Hypnotic, hypnotic. You're leaving me breathless. I hate this, I hate this. You're not the one I believe in. With God as my witness…"

"Bella?" Edward's voice asked softly. The volume of the music went down until it was soft background noise. "Bella?" Edward asked again.

I turned my head away from the window, my eyes fluttering open. I hadn't exactly slept. The tune and rhythm of the music Edward had been playing was always calming, but the lyrics of the song currently playing song left lasting thoughts in my mind making my sleep superficial. While I sat there, my mind only half rested, resting now since I was awake, the song played through me the lyrics striking a particular chord in me. They were only too true regarding my feelings to Edward. Absolutely he had a magic over me, some hypnotic magic that left me breathless in its wake.

"Sorry." I muttered, turning the right way in my seat and rubbing my eyes as I yawned and stretched as much as the interior space of the Volvo would allow. "How long was a sleeping?"

"Five hours. You need me to pull over?"

"Yeah, actually, I need a human minute." I laughed lightly. Edward returned it and pulled off the highway into the rest stop that was approaching us. "You don't have to come in with me."

"Are you hungry?"

"Sort of."

"Then I'm coming in with you."

I shoved him lightly, playfully and got out of the Volvo. It was very cloudy today, thankfully. I watched the heads that turned to stare at Edward as he and I walked in, his arm across my shoulders. "Why must people stare at you? It's so rude." I said as he opened the door for me.

"Didn't you once tell me that I dazzle people?"

"I said you couldn't help it."

"There's your reason for why people stare." I shoved him playfully again but he didn't budge.

"I'll be right back." I said. I let go of him and walked toward the ladies room. I was only a couple minutes and Edward was standing right where I had left him when I exited. "Ok, food for the human now." I whispered taking his hand and pulling him toward the concession area. Edward scoffed quietly and flashed me a knowing smile.

I fell asleep again as soon as we were back on the road. Edward kept the music low and I swore I could hear him singing to himself. Maybe he was taking that comment I had made about his voice to heart. I hope so. There was no sound more beautiful in this world than Edward's Cullen bell-like voice…

And no sound more horrible than the screeching that plagued my mind. I shot up in the seat a cold sweat across my forehead. My nightmare had come back to haunt me, Edward twisting and writhing on that cold stone floor.

"Bella?" he reached across the seat and took my hand. "What is it?"

I panted for a moment catching my breath ad waiting for the shock to dissipate. "Nothing." I closed my eyes and let my head fall back against the headrest, my hand coming up to hold my forehead.

"Bella, please tell me. Was it you nightmare again?"

"Yeah." I shook my head, still breathless, eyes still shut. "It won't go away."

"It will, in time." Edward promised. He raised my hand and kissed it tenderly then returned his eyes to the road. It was nighttime now. I had missed the sunset. I wanted so badly for Edward to take me in his arms and hold me tight right now but he was driving and I knew there was only so much he could do. I did my best to push the dream from my mind and looked around the car instead. I saw a plastic bag at my feet with a container of salad inside. "Uh, I stopped and got dinner for you. You were dead asleep, I didn't want to disturb you."

"Thanks." I said quietly reaching for the bag. I pulled the lid off the container and tore open the small bag of dressing pouring less than half of it over the Cobb salad. I shook the whole thing inside the container to spread the dressing around evenly then popped the lid back off, located the fork and started to eat. I was starving. I finished the whole thing in less than ten minutes and downed the water that Edward had gotten for me as well.

"Hungry?" he asked sarcastically.

"I was." I answered, trying to mirror his tone. "Thank you for that. Um, how much longer till we get there?"

"Not long, couple more hours. You still look tired."

"I've been sleeping all day." I was silent for a minute then added. "Sorry I missed the sunset, I know you wanted to me to see, and did all that planning…"

Edward reached across the seat to place a finger on my lips. "Stop, it's ok. You'll witness ones much more beautiful at the cabin. Trust me, they'll take your breath away." He took his finger away and I gazed him, my eyes longing.

"Like you do." I whispered, my voice lower and more seductive than I intended. I was instantaneously embarrassed and turned to look away my hand coming up to my lips. "Sorry. I didn't mean it that way."

"I know exactly what you meant." Edward said, not looking at me. "If I had a breath in my body, Bella, trust me, you would take it away too."

"But you do have a breath."

"Not like you do."

The conversation dropped there and I turned to stare out the window again for several long, uncomfortably silent minutes. "Can we pull over for a minute? I need to stretch my legs."

"Yeah, there's a final stop up here. You can have another human minute." Edward nodded toward the turnoff in front of us. "You're not upset with me, are you?"

I turned to look at him, my gaze incredulous. "No, why would I be?"

"I just feel like this whole 'you're human and I'm not' is coming between us. There are things I want to give you but I can't. There are things I wish we could do, but we can't."

"Edward," I said reaching over and taking one of his hands off the wheel and holding it, "I understand, and no, that's not coming between us. I know how you feel, trust me. In time we'll figure all of this out. You've been gone from my life for eight months. You've missed a lot, but the one thing that hasn't changed is my love for you." I watched him look over at me. "And it never will." I promised. "Never."

"I really don't deserve this kindness from you, Bella. I abandoned you."

"For my own safety, and Edward, if that's not love than I don't know what is. You loved me enough to leave me behind and suffer your own pain, you sick masochistic lion." I teased smiling at him, "And this stupid lamb was dumb enough to wait for you. And damn glad that she did."

Edward pulled into the rest stop and put the car in park before turning to look at me. He smiled gently and then leaned over and pressed his lips to mine in a kiss that has no words to describe amount of love in it.

~*~*~*


	4. Storm

A/N: I take no credit for the song in this chapter "Let Me Sign" by Rob Pattinson.

ENJOY!!

ReddTwilight

Chapter 4: Storm

It was close to midnight when we finally got to the cabin. Moonlight was shining down on the river behind it making the entire scene look like something from a painting, something from a dream of a perfect world. All I could do was stand there and marvel at the beauty of the surrounding nature and the quiet bubbling from the water. I breathed out and a cloud followed my breath. I tucked my hands under my arms for a little warmth, breathing out a few more clouds. Edward walked past me carrying both of our bags.

"This is… Amazing, Edward." I said quietly.

"Wait till you see it when the sun goes down. That will truly take your breath away."

I unlocked the door for him and he walked in after me crossing the front room off to the side and dropping the bags by a door I assumed to be the bedroom. He then hit a switch on the wall and track lighting illuminated the living room. It was exactly as he described it to me.

"Yeah," he said slowly, pushing his hands into his pockets and watching me take everything in. "Tanya hasn't changed it much, save for that." He nodded toward a large flat screen TV that hung on the wall. Beside it were shelves and shelves of DVDs. "I told you that you don't really like to watch a lot of TV so…"

I continued to turn in circles as I examined every last inch of the space.

"Edward… It's…" I turned to look at him catching the smiling that played on his lips and it made my heart stop. "Beautiful…" I breathed. Somewhere my mind was telling me that I was describing Edward at the moment rather than the room.

"Yeah, it is." He said softly, returning my gaze. I watched him reach over to the switch again and push it down until the track lighting along the ceiling was a soft, warm glow. It allowed for the moonlight outside to shine more intensely through the glass backside of the house. I noticed now that I was standing in a pool of it, the light making my skin white. Edward walked toward me slowly his eyes never leaving my face. When he was beside me he reached down and took my hand bringing it up and holding it between us palm to palm. He laced our fingers loosely, his eyes staring longingly into mine.

"Very beautiful." He whispered. He then wrapped his other arm around my waist and pulled me close to him, our hands disconnecting so he could wrap both his arms around me and press me against his body. I rested my hands on his chest, forgetting how to breathe. Edward stared down at me for a long moment taking in the emotions in my eyes.

He then bowed his head and pressed his lips gently to mine.

~*~*~*~*

Morning came all too soon for me. I had been lost in a dream world. Nothing had happened last night that I could remember, then again I don't really remember much after Edward kissed me. My body felt no different. Nothing had happened. I opened my eyes to see sunlight filtering into the room above my head through the creamy curtains casting a buttery glow across the king-size bed that I lay in. I sat up slowly running my hand through my hair to smooth out any knots. Wait… Why am I able to sit up? Where's Edward?

Once glance around the room told he wasn't here. I got out the bed planting my feet on the floor. The wood was so cold it shocked me and I reflexively pulled my feet back with a gasp. I set them down again slowly, expecting it this time, and it wasn't so bad. I crossed the space to the door noticing that both his and my bags were unpacked and folded neatly in the closet. He'd hung up his shirts alongside mine. One peek in the dresser told me put away my jeans next to his as well. The only clothes that were separated into different drawers were… Well, you can guess. Wait? Did that mean he'd seen all of my underwear? Oh God I hope not. My bag was folded on top so I quickly pulled it out and unzipped the outside pocket where I packed all of my unmentionables. They were still in there. I breathed a sigh of relief. I took them out and put them away in the drawer where he had placed my socks.

When I opened the door and looked around the one-story house I didn't see him out there either. I heard nothing but a quiet sizzling in the kitchen. "Edward?" I called. "Edward?"

"Good morning, Bella." He said walking in from the kitchen not a moment after I called his name.

"Why weren't you… In the bed… With me?"

"You were sleeping so soundly I didn't want to wake you." Edward said as he approached me. He took my hand in his own and lifted my chin with the other. He bowed his head to place a light, 'good morning' kiss on my lips. I didn't return it, not because I was mad, but because I'd forgotten how to. Edward pulled back smiling at me, his eyes half closed. "Bella?" he asked gently, "You still breathing?" I could hear the teasing smile in his voice.

"I think so…" I whispered, my eyes still shut. "Not sure though." I opened my eyes a moment later. Edward was still holding me, one arm wrapped around my back now, supporting me. "I think I'm good now." I said, my voice a little stronger.

Edward breathed a quiet laugh and steered me toward the kitchen. "I made you breakfast." He said. "You're going to need a full tank for the day ahead of us." He sat down at the table where he'd made a place for me. As soon as we walked into the kitchen the overwhelming smell of French toast and bacon had assaulted my nose and my mouth had begun to water.

"When did you learn to cook?" I asked looking up at him.

"It's not difficult when you have the recipe in front of you." He responded placing a plate of warm, syrupy goodness down in front of me. He leaned down and kissed the side of my head. "Try and eat it slowly, savor it, enjoy it." He smiled down at me. "I know you're one to scarf down food like this. There's more in the pan if you're still hungry when you finish."

"Where are you going?" I asked starting to cut the gooey pile of toast in front of me.

"I'm going to go finish packing for the day's "adventure"," He raised his eyebrows briefly to emphasize, "while you eat."

"Thanks." I said quietly, smiling at him again.

He returned it. "This trip is all for you, remember? It's my pleasure. I'll be right back." He promised, and kissed the top of my head before leaving.

I tried to do what Edward had asked me, but the food was so delicious, and it was gone too fast. I looked over at what was left in the pan, tempted to take another plate, but I didn't. I wanted more for later. Dessert maybe. Yeah, with a little bit of ice cream.

"Did you even taste it?" Edward asked sarcastically from where he was leaning in the doorway.

"Of course I did." I said defensively, getting up and going to place my dishes in the sink. Edward intentionally cleared his throat and pointed to a dishwasher just to the left of me.

"Oh, oops. I didn't know it was there. So used to doing them by hand, you know." I said as I pulled the door of the machine open and placing the plate and utensils inside. I kicked it shut then washed my hands quickly and dried them on my pants. "So, um, what are we doing today?" I asked leaning my back on the counter.

"I am going to show the local scenery, Bella, and you are going to marvel at it. Not every forest looks the same."

I already am, I thought to myself, staring at him in his ocean blue button down and jeans. I was SO thankful Edward couldn't read my mind the moment that thought passed through. It would have been unbearably embarrassing.

Edward glanced out the window then looked me over. "You should probably get dressed so we can get going. We only have until five."

"Why?" I asked as I started to walk past him.

"There's a storm coming through. It'll be here only for tonight, still, I don't think you would want to be in the middle of the forest when it start to thunder and pour."

"Thunder storm?" I asked, my voice suddenly shaky.

Edward caught my hand and I looked up at him. "Hey, Bella, what's wrong?" he asked running his hand down one side of my face. I shook the fear off internally.

"Nothing." I lied, trying to make my voice more stable. I prayed it came out that way.

"You sure?"

I hated thunderstorms. I was deathly afraid of them, and for good reason. The last thunderstorm Edward and I had been in together was when… I didn't let my mind wander further than that through the memories. It would only make things worse.

"Yeah, positive." I smiled, hoping it was convincing. Edward returned it. Shouldn't considering acting, huh, I thought to myself.

We spent the first few hours hiking through the woods covering a good five miles. Edward pointed out different native vegetation and flora the whole way. Some I knew, some I didn't. He made me laugh when he suddenly grabbed my arm to keep me from tripping. I told him it wouldn't have hurt me, and when he told me what I was about to trip in to, that it wasn't any pile of leaves, that was when I laughed and told him, 'good catch'. As we walked past the growth the old rhyme popped into my head, "grows in three leave it be".

The sun broke through the light foliage every couple of yards creating pools of golden light here and there. At first Edward walked around them, but when he saw the glum look on my face every time he did so he started to stop and stand in them with me. I managed to convince him to leave the first two buttons of his shirt undone for the duration of our hike since the sun was climbing ever higher and more and more light was flooding down through the trees. I wanted to see him sparkle, to watch his skin glitter. I told him he shouldn't be afraid of hiding it from me anymore. I knew what he was and I told him as I've told him a million times before. That I didn't care.

"I just thought it would remind you of… You know."

He had a point. Yes, there was a strong memory attached to it, that I had almost lost him in Volterra because he had wanted to show himself in blinding sunlight to humans in order for the Volturi to kill him. But there was an even stronger memory than that attached.

"You remember when you took me to the meadow, right?" I asked, taking a bite of the apple in my hand. We'd stopped for a while since my stomach had been protesting for the past hour.

"Of course." Edward responded. He was sitting up against a tree, one leg extended, one bent with his arm resting on that knee.

"Well, that's what I always think of when I see you in the sunlight, not Italy." I said glancing up from my apple. "That afternoon in the meadow is one of the happiest memories I have. It outshines everything else that's bad. Everything that I saw, everything that I felt." I watched him watch me, his expression curious. His perfect brows drew together as I looked away and took another bite of my apple. He was silent while I chewed and swallowed.

"Not everything makes me think of something bad." I said quietly. I put the apple down on my jacket which I had been sitting on and moved a little closer to him. "Not everything you do is going to conjure up a painful memory, Edward."

"I just don't want you to be afraid. I don't want to see you in pain anymore, Bella." Edward said, his voice barely above a whisper.

I moved even closer to him, crawling between his legs to settle in his lap. I positioned myself so I was looking down into his eyes. He looked up at me in interest, wondering what I was going to do. The sun was just at the right angle off to the side of us so that its rays shone across his face, neck, and the skin exposed by his shirt. I took his face in my hands marveling at the smoothness of it, but at the same time how it felt as hard as stone.

"Edward," I whispered his name. I felt the hand that had been resting on his knee travel up my back to tangle in my hair. "The more you believe that you're going to cause me to remember, the more you bring it up the harder it's going to be for me to let it go."

"I suppose you're right." Edward sighed. "I'm sorry, Bella. I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy. Just like this, just us."

"Is that all?"

I bit my lip. "Not quite."

"What else could there be?" he asked, his voice soft, his lips pulling up into a matching smile.

"This." I breathed. I leaned down and kissed him softly, hesitantly. "That's all." I said when we parted a moment later.

"For you, maybe." Edward whispered. "But not me." He threaded his fingers deeper into my hair pulling my face a little closer to his. "Bella," he breathed my name.

Then he kissed me harder than I had kissed him. My hands that were still on his face began to travel down. I held his neck for a moment as his fingers massaged my scalp. One hand remained on his neck while the other went to his shirt and started to undo the rest of the buttons. He didn't stop me this time. I pushed his shirt open with my hand then returned it to his neck, lifting myself up so I was straddling his hips. Edward cupped my jaw in both of his hands pushing my mouth open with tongue. The icy feel of it made me gasp and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.

"Bella," he breathed my name again as we changed the angle of our kiss. "Oh, Bella."

I broke away from him for just a moment so I could look at him. His chest and stomach glittered in the sunlight. As my eyes traveled back up his body Edward closed the space between us again, picking up the kiss where we had left off. I reached down slowly with one hand and stroked his cool, hard skin. Now Edward gasped and parted from me thumping his head against the tree and breathing loudly through his mouth. He shut his eyes tight in concentration, or control. I couldn't tell. I didn't care. I grabbed his neck and pressed my mouth back to his swiping my tongue across his teeth.

"Bella, stop." He breathed, pushing me back. He took a moment to quickly, in a blindingly fast movement, do up all the buttons on his shirt. He lifted me from his lap and I backed away a couple of feet. "You can't do that." He hissed, not looking at me but the ground. "You can't tempt me like that."

"You promised you would never hurt me."

"I'm not talking about drinking your blood, Bella. I have no craving for it anymore." He said quietly, his head hanging. I watched him as he breathed in and out willing himself to calm down. "I'm talking about something else." He whispered. He looked up at me. "Something more… Intimate." His eyes were ablaze, but not with anger. This was a different fire, one that I had seen only one time before, in the meadow.

He had been letting me learn his face, how it felt… The contours, the angles of his cheekbones. And then I had stopped, backed away. He opened his eyes and looked at me at that point, the same look in them that they had now. Hunger. Carnal hunger.

"Bella," he said my name softly and moved slowly toward where I sat. He stopped when our faces were mere inches apart. "I want you to understand how hard it is for me right now… You have to understand that I can't lose control. Not ever. Not even a little bit."

"You should really trust yourself more, Edward." I whispered.

"You shouldn't trust me at all." He whispered back.

~*~*~*

The storm began as we were heading back to the cabin. Just as Edward got the back door locked the first peel of thunder sounded. I shook visibly, and Edward mistook it as being cold from the light rain we had jogged back in.

"No," I said as he attempted to wrap a blanket around my shoulders.

"Want some dinner?" he offered.

"No, I'm not hungry." And my stomach betrayed me.

"Hm," Edward smiled playfully at me. "And I went to so much trouble this morning…" he teased.

I looked up at him wiping a wet piece of hair from my eye. "What did you make?"

"Soup." Edward said simply. "It's in the fridge. I just need to warm it up on the stove." He shrugged modestly. "So, hungry?"

"Sure," I said not looking at him.

He lifted my chin so our eyes met. "Are you made at me?" he asked.

"No, just disappointed in myself." I whispered. "I should know better around you." I continued and pulled myself from his hold walking toward the kitchen.

I ate my soup in silence while Edward unpacked the bag he had brought with us today. I brooded over our kiss the entire time. I got up from the table and walked my half finished bowl to the sink and saw an extremely bright flash of lightening outside the window. I instinctively looked away and began counting in my head. 1…2…3…and a half…4 Then the thunder boomed miles away. However it was so loud the storm could've been right over us. The bowl in my hand crashed to floor and shattered as I dropped it and crumpled into a ball, shaking violently in fear.

Edward ran into the kitchen taking in my position on the floor next to soup that was getting all over. "Bella," he got down on the floor and wrapped an arm around me scooping me up and moving me quickly through the house. He shut the door when we were in the bedroom and sat me on the bed. Lighting flashed again outside the window and thunder followed a few seconds later. I shook again but not as violently this time since Edward was still holding me to his chest. My breathing was fast, almost panting.

"Can I leave you alone for a moment while I go clean that up?" he asked. I nodded. I could be strong. He kissed my forehead and dashed from the room. I sat on the bed with my knees pulled up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them burying my face against my legs. "I'm back." I heard Edward's voice say as he cradled me against him again. "Bella, why are you so afraid. You've never been afraid of thunderstorms before."

"Do you really have to ask that, Edward?" My voice was muffled and shaky.

"Yes, what is it?"

"When was the last time you and I were together in a thunderstorm?"

I couldn't see Edward's face, but I felt the recognition of the memory in the way his arms tightened around me. "Bella, it's ok, you're safe."

"I know. But it doesn't erase the fear. That's… stuck with me now." I raised my head for a moment to look at him, but he pulled it against his chest as more lighting flashed outside the window. "I just want to go to sleep now, but I can't."

Edward pulled himself up onto the bed and lifted the blankets so we could both get beneath them .He sat with his back against the headboard and held me in his lap rocking me gently. Thunder sounded outside and I shook. The next time lightening flashed he held my head to his chest and covered my eyes with his hand.

"No one's ever done that for me." I whispered into his shirt, my eyes still covered. "No one's ever cared for me that way."

"Shh… Try and sleep."

"Not going to happen." I said bitterly.

The storm continued for I don't know how long. We sat there in the bed for the duration of it. I couldn't sleep no matter dead tired I was. Edward had stopped rocking me at one point since my shaking had finally subsided. The storm was moving out to sea, the thunder becoming more and more distant.

"You want me to sing to you?" Edward offered. I looked up at him from where I was still cradled against his chest.

"Yes." I whispered.

Edward breathed through his nose and tipped his head back for a moment, considering what to sing to me. I would be satisfied if he hummed my lullaby, but he obviously wanted to give me something more soothing.

"Ooh…Standing by a broken tree. Her hands are all twisted, she's pointing at me. I was damned by the light comin' over all as she spoke with a voice that, disrupted the sky. She said, "Walk on over, yeah to this bit of shade, I will wrap you in my arms". And she said, "Let me sign, let me sign."."

The velvet sound of his voice immediately calmed my mind and I found myself crying at the beauty of it. "Edward," I breathed, feeling my eyelids begin to fall, "That was absolutely beautiful. Thank you."

He kissed the top of my head. "You're welcome, love. Now try and sleep, please."

I let my eyelids shut. "Sing it again." I whispered. Edward did, over and over, his voice never faltering from its smooth, beautiful perfection.

~*~*~*~*


	5. Sleeping Angel

A/N: Again, I take no credit for the lyrics of "Let Me Sign" by Rob Pattinson. Just want to share a little ironic bit of information. For those of you that have read "Eclipse", one of my favorite scenes is Edward, Jacob, and Bella in the tent, and Edward and Jacob are… Shall we say bantering over how to keep Bella warm. Edward tells Jacob to "fetch a space heater" Jacob's response, "I'm not a Saint Bernard." I just read that again last night, and I had totally forgotten about it till then since I'm still on "New Moon", for the third time… Ha, I have no life outside of Twilight. But I was perusing through the novels last night and I read that portion again and it made me laugh out loud like it did the first time. Want to know why?

I have a Saint Bernard! OMG!!! The first time I read that I couldn't stop laughing, it was just too ironic to me. Just thought I would share that. He's 140 lbs. Yes… He's a moose…Or a horse, whatever you want to call him. But we just call him Winston. Well, thanks for listening to my babbling, hope you all enjoy the chapter.

ENJOY!!!!

ReddTwilight

Chapter 5: Sleeping Angel

"I will wrap you in my arms… Let me sign… Let me sign…"

How could I wake her? How could I disturb this beautiful angel sleeping in my arms? I let myself continue to softly sing the words that had settled her mind last night, afraid if I stopped, her nightmares would return to plague her. We both still lay in the bed. I'd finally lain on my back, my head propped up on a pillow. I had pulled Bella down with me laying her head on my shoulder and wrapping that arm around her to stroke her hair and keep it away from her face. My other hand was folded behind my head giving me a little more support so I could more easily watch Bella sleep.

Her face was so peaceful; eyes shut lightly, lips slightly parted. She breathed gently in her sleep. One hand was curled up beside her face, the fingers twitching every few minutes. I leaned over slowly careful not to disturb her form, and very softly kissed her forehead. I studied her face for a moment, my fingers stroking her cheek. She moved just a tiny bit, her eyes shutting tight for a brief second and then relaxing again. I reached over with my other hand and gently stroked away a piece of hair that had fallen across her eyes pushing it back behind her ear. I folded my hand behind my head and sighed as I continued to watch her sleep.

I couldn't bring myself to move. I could lie here all day and watch this perfect beauty that I was so in love with just sleep. There was no other place I'd rather be, no other person that I wished this was. I knew in that moment that there was a Hell, I'd been there. This was my Heaven. I leaned over and kissed her forehead again. She didn't move so I trailed my lips down her nose, gently, slowly. I kissed her lips as softly as I could. It startled me when I felt her kiss me back. But I returned the smile that I felt against my mouth, wrapping both of my arms around her and pulling her close.

"I could wake up like that every morning." She whispered sleepily, her eyes all dreamy. "What time is it?"

"Early. The sun's not up yet, want to watch it rise with me?" I asked, my voice gentle.

"Yeah."

I got up from the bed and scooped Bella up in my arms carrying her out to the living room. We settled down on the loveseat that faced the huge front window of the house. I rested Bella in front of me, her back to my chest and wrapped covered us with the blanket that lay across the back of the couch. I wrapped my arms around her and we lay there silently, trading gentle kisses as the sun rose.

~*~*~*~*

A/N: I wanted to keep this chapter short on purpose. I wanted to create a tender moment between the two of them, where there was nothing but love, and I hope I achieved that. Review, let me know what you all think.

ReddTwilight


	6. Bored

ENJOY!!

ReddTwilight

Chapter 6: Bored

The next few days passed uneventfully in terms of storms and other disturbing occurrences. Edward made me breakfast every morning, something new each time. For someone who never ate, he was becoming quite a good cook. Not that I was surprised. Edward was good at everything.

We spent most of our time in the woods. I was content to just lie on a blanket with him in the sunlight, my head resting on his bare, scintillating chest. We didn't engage in any repeats of our "escapade" from the day we'd gone hiking. I knew it was causing tension between us, an unnecessary tension that I would happily remedy, if Edward only wanted to as well. It didn't bother me as much now as it had initially. I wasn't as stung anymore when he abruptly ended our good morning embraces much too soon. Most of the time before they even had a chance to get started.

Edward woke me Thursday morning with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast. I smelled it before he sat down on the bed at my feet.

"Wake up, sleepy head." He whispered as he kissed my temple. I smiled impishly without opening my eyes. "Bella, love, I have breakfast."

I sat up then, slowly, and rubbed my eyes. Why did it have to be Thursday already? "Breakfast in bed?" I asked, a little surprised, but in a very, very good way.

Edward leaned over and kissed me gently. "Sort of. More like a bribe…" he said handing me the plate.

"Oh no, what's wrong?" I asked picking up a sausage link.

"Nothing. I just need to go do a little hunting. I'm going back down to Forks and meeting up with my family so we can all hunt together. I'll be gone all day and I didn't want you to be mad at me so I'm trying to bribe you into letting me off the hook."

I nibbled the sausage, listening to him. It was typical Edward. I speared some eggs with my fork and ate silently for a minute tipping my head lightly from side to side as if I was thinking over the taste of the food in my mouth, but I was actually contemplating a response. My decision was sealed, rather coerced, when Edward kissed me.

"So, am I in trouble?" he asked, his voice light and playful.

"No." I answered, biting into some toast.

"Thank you. Just try and do me one favor." He said looking straight into my eyes.

"What, try and not get hurt? Edward, please, you sound like Charlie." I took another forkful of eggs and chewed quietly.

Edward just chuckled and shook his head as he got up from the bed. He looked down at me the smile still spread across his face. "I promise, just today. I'll be back around dinner, maybe a little later."

"Don't rush for me. Enjoy your hunt." I mumbled, my mouth half full. It was a little embarrassing, but Edward just chuckled again and ruffled my hair before bending down to kiss the top of my head.

"Be safe." He made me promise.

"I will." I swore in return.

Edward turned and walked to the door pausing before he left. "I'll see you tonight. I love you, Bella."

"I love you more." I returned Edward's smile. And then he was gone. I sat on the bed waiting to hear the front door open and shut, but there was just silence. I was alone. Utterly and completely alone.

I finished my breakfast then got up and walked the plate to the kitchen. When I walked back out into the living room I took a good look around. We'd gotten into the habit of just leaving stuff lying around. There was a pile of open DVD cases on the coffee table next to a couple unwashed hot chocolate mugs. Those were my indulgence at night when I couldn't sleep. Books were pulled down from the wall and socks cluttered the floor in front of the used fireplace. I spotted the deck of cards we had been playing with last night in heap by the back door. I would have to count them and make sure there were still fifty-two. Whenever I tried to shuffle we wound up playing fifty-two pick up instead.

I went back to the bedroom and looked around in there as well. Both his and my clothes were strewn all over. Only underwear had made it into our bags when we changed. Edward was usually not this messy, but I assumed he had been doing it to keep the atmosphere relaxed. I sighed, guess I was cleaning this morning. I changed into sweats and an old shirt and went about picking up. I stuffed my worn clothes into my bag without folding them and then began picking up Edward's. I found the blue button down he had worn the day we went hiking and brought it up to my nose to inhale the scent of him. It was exactly the same, but I knew it did no justice to the real thing.

I finished the bedroom and got started on the living room. This one took me longer. I had to locate the DVDs and return them to their respective cases, count the cards, and go through our socks. I picked up the dirty mugs and headed for the kitchen when I was finished. I piled all of the dirty dishes in the sink into the dishwasher, added some soap and shut the door turning the machine on. The quiet 'whir' filled the kitchen as cleaned the stove, scrubbed the table, and mopped the floor.

The bathroom wasn't as bad as the other rooms, just a couple used towels lay balled up on the floor and my toiletry bag was spread across the glass shelf over the sink. I took a shower when I was done cleaning and dressed in the same clothes. I checked the time on the stove as I walked back into the kitchen, it was almost one in the afternoon. I wasn't particularly hungry, but I was exceptionally bored.

I grabbed an apple from the bowl in the middle of the table, collected my book that I had brought with me and shrugged my lightest coat on before heading outside. I would just go for a walk and find somewhere to bide my time.

It was nice and warm out today so I didn't need my coat for long but it would come in handy when I wanted to sit down. I must have walked for about an hour or so until I found myself beside the river. It wasn't far from the house, but I hadn't been walking in a straight line toward it. If I had been it would have only taken me about ten minutes to reach it. I'd gone around for maybe two miles instead.

The place I found was quiet, peaceful. The only sound was that of the water lapping gently against the stones at its edge and the occasional call of a bird. I spread my jacket out on the ground and sat with my back against a rock. I started eating my apple, my book in my lap, and just listening to the ethereal sounds around me. When I finished I tossed the core toward the woods. Compost. I picked my book up and found the place I'd left off at.

I read for a couple of hours, the sun making its usual journey overhead providing more than sufficient light for me. I wondered idly how Edward was, how the hunt was for him. I hoped he was enjoying himself and not wasting time worrying about me.

I managed to get through four chapters in my book before I called it quits. It had gotten very warm out all of a sudden and the comfortableness of the sun on my skin was making me feel drowsy. I had a t-shirt on underneath the old button down I had worn to clean this morning so I took the top shirt off and folded it to place it behind my head against the rock like a pillow. I crossed my arms over my chest and shut my eyes letting my head fall to one side.

~*~*~*~*

"Bella?"

I opened my eyes slowly and looked over to see Edward sitting next to me, my head was on his shoulder, his arm around mine, a small smile playing at his lips. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty, have a good nap?"

I sat up a little more and looked around. The scene made me gasp. We were still by the river, but the sun was setting over it. It threw bright orange, yellow, and pink light up into the clouds. The colors reflected on the water making it glisten. Like the beautiful vampire sitting next to me.

"Really is something isn't it?" Edward asked in his smooth voice.

"Yeah," I breathed. I snuggled a little closer to him wrapping an arm around his stomach and resting my head on his chest. "How was hunting?"

"All right." He said shrugging, sounded like he wasn't completely thrilled by the events of the day. "Emmett was giving me a hard time all day. About you mostly, sometimes about myself. He kept offering his advice on how to effectively calm you down in a more substantial and… Physical way. I told him, well, that's how he handles Rose, that's not how I handle you."

"I wouldn't mind." I said, my voice low.

"I know you wouldn't." Edward looked down at me, his expression serious. "But that's not going to happen."

"I know. It was just a thought."

We sat there in silence as the sun continued to set, sinking lower and lower into the horizon. I could tell Edward was chewing something over in his mind because of the way his jaw was set and the look of concentration etched across his face.

"We should head back before it gets dark." He said standing and pulling me up with him. He gathered my coat folding it over his arm, and he took my hand. Before we started to walk off he looked back at the place I had found. "We should come back here tomorrow since it's our last day."

"Does it have to be?"

"I promised Charlie I wouldn't keep you out of school for more than a week. We'll do something special tomorrow, I promise."

Edward was silent the entire walk back to the house, his face a brooding mask. He never let go of my hand, but he never looked at me either. Was what I had said? I know I shouldn't do that, but sometimes, when he looked at me with those smoldering eyes, I just couldn't help myself. He set my blood on fire.

Edward held the door open for me, watching me with eager eyes as I walked in. He shut the door and pressed his back to it staring at me where I stood not three feet from him. The cabin was growing dark inside, the only light coming from the sun that was still setting. It cast an orangey glow around the living room, hitting the back of Edward's neck.

"Bella, he said quietly.

I looked over at him where he stood at the door, his eyes watching me. They were golden, soft from hunting. "Yeah?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Come here."

I walked over to him stopping when I was less than a foot in front of him. He reached out slowly, taking my shoulders and running his hands up and down my arms for a moment before turning us so that my back was to glass. "Don't want the sun in your eyes." He said softly, pushing some hair off of my face. "Try not to move." He whispered.

I stood there still as stone, waiting, counting the seconds as he leaned down closer and closer to me. Then his lips were against mine, soft, hesitant. He reached out with his hands pressing them against the glass for support as he leaned into me more. My hands came up to hold his and I sighed. Edward pressed his body closer to mine, his hands cupping my jaw now.

"Edward…"

"Shush."

He pressed his lips to mine again, threading his fingers back through my hair and opening his against mine. I couldn't breathe. My blood was on fire again. Don't stop, I thought to myself. I didn't know it was possible, but Edward pressed himself even closer to me, pushing me against the glass and trapping me there. His body felt so good wrapped around mine. I was just about to bring my hand up to hold his face when he finally pulled back from me, his hands falling to hold my waist. We stared at each other for a long moment, breathing erratically.

"I think I'm gonna go take a shower." I finally said, breaking the silence between us.

"Hungry?"

For you, I thought, but I kept it to myself. "Sure."

"Any preference?"

"I don't care. Surprise me."

Edward smiled at me and let me go. I moved past him, hoping he couldn't smell the adrenaline rushing through me right now. It would be embarrassing if he could. I headed for the bathroom without saying anything leaving the door cracked to vent the steam.

I let the blistering water pound down on my back making my skin a bright pink. I was hoping the pain from burning myself would make me forget about the fire in my loins, but it didn't. I washed my hair and my body and thought about lingering in the now warm water to try and kill this fire in system, but thought better of it, knowing that Edward would more than likely be able to smell that as well. I shut the water off and grabbed the towel I had hung on the glass door and wrapped myself in it before walking out of the shower.

I finished drying my hair and stood at the mirror to do some grooming. The sudden knock at the door made me drop the tweezers in hand and they clattered into the sink. "Bella?" Edward's voice asked, "You ok?"

"Yeah, fine. I'll be right out."

"Why do I smell you crying?" his tone was genuinely concerned.

"Pulling your hair out with little metal torture devices does tend to make one tear significantly." I responded as I picked up the tweezers and went back to my eyebrows. Through the crack in the door I thought I heard him mutter something that sounded like, 'women…'

"Ok, well, I just wanted to let you know that dinner's…. Ready."

Edward must have been leaning on the door because it swung open and he saw me at the sink wrapped up in my towel. He paused, taking in my form, bent over the sink just a little bit so I could see my eyebrows better.

"What?" I asked. I wasn't naked, there was no reason for him to be staring like that.

"Nothing…" Edward muttered. He shook his head and shut the door. All the way. I turned back to the mirror to resume my task.

"Men…"

~*~*~*

"So what was that all about?" I asked a few minutes later when I walked into the kitchen. At first I couldn't tell what I was smelling, but Edward was making me a plate so I didn't have to wait long to find out what it was.

He scooped some what rice from a pot onto a plate and then covered it over in some kind of stir fry. Whatever it was, it smelled absolutely mouthwatering. I sat down at the table where he'd set a place for me and set the plate down in front of. Steam was still coming off it.

"What's my surprise?" I asked picking up my fork.

"Which question do you want me to answer first?" he responded sitting down across from me.

I thought about that for a moment while I chewed my first bite. I answered my second question myself. It was chicken breaded in Panko, and stir-fried with Asian vegetables and Hoison sauce. Geez, he was becoming a good cook.

"The first one." I said as I swallowed. "I just answered the second one."

"The first one…. Ok, what are you referring to?"

"Don't answer a question with a question." I smirked.

Edward returned it tilting his head to one side. "Why not?"

I smiled and suppressed a laugh. "No… Seriously, Edward. What was with that kiss when we got back?"

"Well," he looked across the table at me, his eyes boring into mine. "You told me to try and trust myself a little more. That was me trying to trust myself."

"You did… um… really good."

"You want to tell me why you took such a hot shower?"

I breathed deeply and took another forkful of my dinner. I deliberately chewed slowly, trying to come up with a good excuse other than the truth. What the hell, he was going out on a limb with me, the least I could do was return the favor.

"I was burning myself." I said.

His brows drew together over eyes that were suddenly a little angry. "Why would you do that?"

"I was trying to kill another burn in my body." I said quietly, looking down at my plate. I looked up at him, his eyes soft again.

"Isn't that what cold showers are for?" he teased. I fumed a little in my seat. I didn't tell him that the cold water would have made me think too much of how his skin would feel on mine, effectively destroying its purpose. I was quiet for a moment and only looked up when I felt Edward's cool hand on mine. "Sorry, I don't mean to tease. I know how this is making you feel. This trip hasn't really helped you relax much, has it?"

"From the nightmares yes, but lately… All of these new… things between us…" I stopped for a moment while I thought of the right thing to say. "Edward…" I looked up into his eyes taking hold of his hand, my dinner long forgotten, "I want you so bad. But I keep reining myself in because I know things will never be like that between us, and I don't want you to feel bad or feel like you have to come to some kind of compromise… I don't want you to do that."

Edward stared at me as I continued, telling him how much I love him and how much this is bothering me right now, but I could deal with it. I could handle it. I wouldn't let it get to me. When I finished he got up from the table and walked over to me without saying anything. He took my hand and pulled me into the living room. I saw at once that he had lit a fire again tonight. He let go of my hand and grabbed the blanket off the couch spreading it out on the floor.

"What are you doing?" I asked, a little afraid of him for the first time.

"Come here." He said quietly, his voice as mysterious and gentle as it had been when he had said those words earlier to me this evening. I walked over to him and he pulled me the rest of the way into his arms pressing his mouth to mine.

We fell down onto the blanket together, Edward on his back and me on top straddling him. It immediately reminded me of the night he had stood behind me admiring my blue shirt. He held my face in his hands, my hair falling down around his in a brown curtain of curls. I supported myself on my arms, pressing my mouth as hard to his as I could. I wasn't going to let up if he wasn't. I wrapped a hand into his hair, pushing his mouth open with mine and deepening the kiss further. He didn't know how much fire was still burning in me. I could kiss him all night like this if we did nothing else.

We didn't.

~*~*~*


	7. Giving In

ENJOY!!

ReddTwilight

Chapter 7: Giving In

I woke up on the couch lying on top of Edward's bare chest, his arm loose around my body. I picked my head up and looked around rubbing my scalp. If this was what it felt like to wake up intoxicated I was going to be letting Edward Cullen kiss me drunk every night.

"Good morning there." He whispered below. I turned to look down at him, a sleepy smile on my face.

"More like good night." I said stretching out along the length of his perfect body.

Edward leaned up and kissed me softly, trailing his lips from my mouth to my throat. I breathed loudly as he found a sensitive spot by my ear and lingered.

"You smell so good in the morning." He whispered, his voice a little gruff.

"I thought I smell good all the time." I asked tipping my head back so he could kiss the hollow of my throat.

"You do." He said running a hand down my hair and returning his mouth to mine. "But since we spent the better part of last night making out…"

"Quite passionately, too."

"Yes. This morning your scent is warm, it's your usual floral bouquet, and something else. Something… sweeter." He kissed me continuously for a minute.

"Maybe it's you." I said when we parted.

"Possible. If it is, then I understand why you sniffed my shirt yesterday."

"How did you know about that?"

"Alice saw you bored out of your mind and missing me like crazy yesterday. Don't tell you picked up my clothes just to clean."

I kissed him soundly. "Fine, I won't." We started a repeat from the night before, the fire returning to set my blood ablaze. I stopped breathing when Edward started kissing down my neck again.

"Stop." I whispered. "Stop before I do something stupid."

Edward pulled back and looked up at me with a quirked eyebrow. "Like what?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"I'm intrigued, yes."

"You really want me to do this?"

Edward took a deep breath and settled himself on the couch. "Go for it."

"Ok." I let my hand travel down his body and undo his belt. Edward tensed for a moment, remaining that way while got his pants undone then began to slip my hand past the waistband of his shorts.

"No!" He pushed me back so I hit the armrest of the couch.

"Then why did you tell me I could? What did you think I was doing?" I shouted back at him.

"No, I'm not saying to you, Bella. I'm saying it to myself." Edward explained as he fixed his pants and picked his shirt up off the floor. He got up, shrugging it on, and faced away from me. "Please don't be mad at me, Bella. I'm trying."

"I know," I said. I stood and walked over to him wrapping my arms around his waist from behind and kissed his back through his shirt. "I see that you're trying and I know it's taking you incredible control. I'm not mad you, ok?"

Edward turned and looked down at me with sorrow in his eyes. "I'm gonna go change." I said softly, then leaned up on my toes and kissed him. "I'll be right out."

I walked from the bedroom a couple minutes later doing up the last two buttons of my shirt leaving the top one open, and grabbed my coat off the hook on the wall shrugging it on and zipping it up. "Hey," I said.

Edward turned to look at me from where he was crouched in front of the fireplace. "Hey, you look nice." I walked over and crouched beside him. "I like that shade of gray on you."

"Thanks. What are you doing?" I watched him sweep up some ashes into a metal dust pan and dump them into a small black metal cradle.

"Cleaning the fireplace out a little. It's supposed to rain again this afternoon, no storms I promise." He added quickly when he saw the fear that crossed my face. "I thought I would leave a fire going for when we get back."

"Oh. Ok. Well, you can use the bedroom now." I kissed his temple then stood and walked into the kitchen. My breakfast waited for on the table. He'd made French toast again. I sat down and noticed the small basket sitting in the middle of the table. I peeked inside and saw lunch for one. Picnic. It made me smile.

"How is it?" Edward asked from the doorway. I looked up from my plate. He was dressed for the day in a navy blue t-shirt that was just tight enough, but still loose, showing all the beautiful contours of his chest and arms, and light khakis. He was more mouthwatering than the food. I swallowed noticeably hard and returned my focus to my food.

~*~*~*

This time it was all his fault.

We were laying stretched out on a blanket, arms around each other, making out. His shirt was discarded beside us, my jacket as well. His eyes had pretty much bugged out when he saw that I was wearing the blue button down blouse. It had provoked the same reaction, instead this time he pinned me down, fingers fiddling with the buttons to get it open as fast as possible and get hand on my skin. I pushed him up and onto his back making him lay there while I buttoned my shirt back up halfway then laid down on my side next to him. His arm came around my head and played with my hair for a moment before he rolled half onto his side and closed the space between our mouths.

That's where we were now. Except the kiss had gotten much deeper. Why did he have to do this? Keep leading me on like this and teasing my senses? Didn't he sense that? Yes, I told myself. He's just too afraid to follow through. We rolled each other around for a while, putting ourselves in different positions and filling the quiet of the forest around us with our heavy breathing and quiet moans. God, I wanted to go further. Well, I had let him touch me…

"Bella!" he gasped out loud. I smirked against his lips as my hand passed over the front of his pants. He pulled back from me panting and sat up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think doing it that way would be so bad." I said sitting up behind him.

"No, no it wasn't. It just surprised me, that's all." Edward looked up toward the sky at that moment. "We better head back." He said.

"Smells like rain?" I asked with a smile.

"Yeah, and it's gonna be a downpour."

We gathered everything up and Edward covered me with the blanket as we began our long walk back to the cabin. The rain started when we were halfway there. Edward suggested we stop for a moment when were just a few yards from the back door. "I think we should make a run for it." He said. He bowed his head and kissed me, then grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

The rain picked up heavily as we made it back to the cabin, Edward throwing open the glass door and rushing us inside. I dropped the blanket on the floor placing the small basket beside it. He kicked his shoes off next to the fireplace and pulled his socks off hanging them on the bar over the grate so they would dry. I did the same, feeling his eyes on me the whole time. When I looked back up at him I laughed. His bronze hair was plastered to his head from the rain.

"Oh, you think it's funny, huh?" he teased and started shaking his hair at me. Little droplets hit my face and put my hands up to protect myself.

"Edward, stop!" l laughed.

He did, reaching out and grabbing my hands to pull them down from my face. We stared at each other for a long moment, and then Edward leaned forward without any warning of what he was going to do and kissed me hard. My arms reflexively wrapped around his neck and his hands grabbed my waist. He pushed me backwards until my back hit a wall with a loud thud. We grunted and broke apart for a moment, but didn't waist time getting back into it. My hands fell to the bottom of his shirt and I started to pull it up his body, but Edward parted from me and yanked it off himself, grabbing my face after and returning to kissing me. I grabbed his arms and pulled them down to my shoulders then reached up and grabbed his neck.

Edward's hand traveled down my shoulder to the collar of my shirt and started undoing the buttons. Our kiss was becoming more urgent, more needing. I groaned against his lips as he reached into my blouse and pressed his hand between my breasts. The coolness of his skin felt good against mine, flushed with heat and wanting. He pulled my shirt down my arms then parted from me again, his breathing ragged. Mine was worse.

He didn't wait long to join his mouth to mine again, his kiss all fire and passion. I felt his hands come around my back and unhook my bra. The garment fell away and I gasped out loud as the sensation of his skin against mine washed over me.

"Edward." I breathed his name, spurring him on. He wrapped his arms around me pressing me harder against the wall and closing all space between our bodies. I held his waist, so tempted to just grab him, but I didn't. His hand fell from my neck to my jeans and he popped the button open and pulled the zipper down. We parted again for a moment so I could push them down. While I fought with wet denim Edward rushed through getting his belt undone and his own wet khakis off. Once we were both down to nothing but underwear, we grabbed at each other, Edward catching my hands and slamming me back into the wall pinning them beside my head. He pressed his groin to mine and I grunted and moaned in his ear. He returned the noise with a slightly more feral edge. We both stood there breathing harshly for a long minute then Edward pulled me away from the wall and yanked me toward the bedroom.

I landed on the bed ungracefully on my back. Edward kneeled above me pushing himself between my knees and supporting himself on his arms. My body reacted instinctually, my arms winding around his neck and my leg wrapping around his hip. He kissed me so hard, his mouth open against mine, the embrace incredibly deep. He got off one hand and hurriedly pushed his shorts and my underwear off. I threw my leg back around his waist desperate for contact between us.

My body ached for him right now. I kept whispering to myself in my mind as his hand stroked up and down my torso, 'Don't think, Edward, don't think'. I let my hand travel down his back, stopping just above the perfect slight curve of his bottom. I didn't go further, I didn't want to startle him and make him stop. I returned my hand to his chest and tilted my head up to deepen the kiss. The intensity of it made Edward buck downward and he groaned. He grabbed my other leg throwing it around his waist and he pushed down hard without warning. I broke away from him screaming as he plunged into me. It hurt more than I thought it would and he stared at me in shock. Before he had a chance to back away I grabbed his face making him look at me.

"Don't you dare." I threatened. Edward didn't hesitate, he leaned down and kissed me with as much passion as before and rocked his hips against mine. I groaned against his mouth, my arms winding back around his neck, my legs wrapping tighter around his hips, pushing him further into me. I returned the motion, a little harder, and he matched it. We continued until we found a rhythm that worked and kept going. The room was filled with the sound of our heavy breathing, my sporadic grunts as Edward pushed at me over and over, and his low fierce snarls. They didn't scare me as much as they spurred me on. I'd never heard him make that noise before and it was erotic to me.

He didn't stop until he reached his end growling viciously in my ear and collapsing on me. He supported his weight enough so that he didn't crush me and just laid there with his head pressed against the hollow at the base of my throat breathing extremely hard.

It took me longer to catch my breath. I ran my hand back through my hair, swiping my tongue across my upper lip and sighing. Edward finally picked his head up and looked down at me laughing. He kissed me passionately.

"You're a mess." He said bringing himself up on his arms so that just his upper body hovered over mine and the rest of us was still connected. My legs fell from his waist and rested, bent, on either side of him.

"You're not one to talk." I gasped in between intakes of air. His hair was tussled, sticking up in different directions. My fault. He was still absolutely gorgeous.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked seriously.

"No more than was expected." I breathed.

"What does that mean?" He asked looking down at me confused.

"I was expecting some pain of course. That was my first time. That was the only real pain, Edward, I swear." I still couldn't breathe.

"Mine, too." He whispered. I believed him. It was 1918 when he had 'died'. Sex wasn't as casually taken then. And I knew he had never done it with other vampires. That just wasn't him. He was too much of a gentleman to have flings like that. He continued to look down at me as I caught me breath. The air was coming easier now. "You didn't uh…" He started.

"Have an orgasm?" I finished for him. I shook my head. "It's ok, I wasn't expecting to."

Edward stared at me for a moment."Want to?" he asked, his voice seductive, his smile cocky. He let his hand start to travel down my torso. I shuddered involuntarily and thumped my head against the pillow. My hand came up to run through my hair again and hold it off my forehead.

I shut my eyes, breathing loudly. "Edward… Yes…But…" he leaned down and covered my mouth with his silencing me as his hand drifted further down. I bucked wildly against his touch feeling him smile against my mouth. It only took him a few minutes to bring my walls crashing down and make light explode behind my eyes. I screamed his name clutching at his back and thrashing on the bed. He pressed his body down against mine and I heard him let out a roar this time. "Good, God!" I gasped out loud as soon as I could find my voice and remember how to use it. My head fell back against the pillow with a soft thud.

"I'm rather pleased as well." He said, that stupid cocky grin plastered across his face again. He lifted out of me and rolled off onto his side propping his head up on one hand to watch me try and regain feeling in my mind.

I rolled my head to the side when I could think again and smiled at him. "Cocky bastard." I muttered, and turned my face back up to the ceiling breathing loudly. Edward just chuckled and rolled his eyes at me.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, in terms of hurting you I mean."

"What?" I asked rolling over to face, propping my head up one hand and extending the other down the side of my body. Edward reached over and pulled the sheet up and I lifted my arm for a moment so he could tuck it around my collarbone. I did the same, except I pulled the sheet no farther than his hip.

"I knew what I was doing the whole time and I kept telling myself to stop… But I couldn't. Not with the way you were responding to me. I just had to keep telling myself over and over in my head, 'control, control, control'."

"And you didn't hurt me." I said reaching out and to stroke his chest. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"That feels so good, Bella."

I let my hand drift lower, past his stomach and under the sheet. Edward growled softy, almost a purr, as I touched him. His eyes remained shut and he sighed again. "Really good." He breathed, his voice raspy. I let myself indulge for a while, learning the feel of him under my hand, watching his face for any sign that I should stop. Edward just laid there with his eyes shut and let me enjoy my exploration. He'd already had his turn, now it was mine.

I laughed quietly as his tongue peeked out to swipe across his upper lip when my hand passed over his entire length in one stroke. I let him go at that point pulling my hand back.

"Thank you," he whispered, opening his eyes. "That was very nice."

"I enjoyed it." I smiled shyly at him, folding my arms and resting my head on them.

"I hope so." He said, returning my smile.

"Hm…" I moved a little closer to him. Edward held the sheet up so I could get close enough to press our bodies together then he let it fall around us. He wrapped a hand around my thigh pulling it up to his hip and holding it there as we tangled our legs together. I pressed a hand to his chest sighing as his soft, sweet breath rustled my hair and his hand stroked my back.

I slept peacefully that night, my mind calm and relaxed. There were no nightmares. Just pleasant dreams of Edward's beautiful face and the sound of his smooth, velvet voice.


	8. What?

ENJOY!!

ReddTwilight

~*~*~*~*

Chapter 8: "What?"

Waking up intoxicated from sex is so much better than waking up intoxicated from making out all night. I stretched languidly, my muscles aching in a good way, in a relaxed way. My whole body felt absolutely supple right now. I moaned dreamily and rolled over to see Edward staring at me with a smile. He reached out and drew me into his arms pulling me flush against him and closing the space between our mouths. It had been intentional. He rolled us over so I was on my back and he could fit himself between my knees. He pushed into me without breaking our kiss and began moving his hips against mine. My legs wrapped instinctually around him pushing him down further, my arms winding around his neck at the same time. This was definitely a better way to be woken up, too.

There was no noise this time. We kissed for the entire duration, pausing only so I could breathe for a few moments and then continuing. Yeah, this was definitely my new favorite way to be woken up. The only time there was sound between us was when we came together and broke apart groaning as we pushed at each other hard. Edward pulled our bodies apart and rolled back over so he was on his back now and I was laying on top of him.

"I'm never leaving this bed." I whispered.

"You have to, it's Saturday."

"No…" I started kissing down his chest stopping at his stomach and then making my way back up. 'Do we have to leave?" I asked placing a gentle kiss on Edward's throat. He tilted his head back slightly so I could kiss more of him.

"Unfortunately yes." He answered. "But that doesn't mean we don't have to stop doing this." He looked at me and shifted our bodies to indicate the proximity of them.

"True. So… When are we leaving?"

"As soon as your showered and dressed. It's almost eight. I'll get you breakfast on the road."

"Fine…" I mumbled, being sarcastic. I started to get up but Edward caught my hand and pulled me back down.

"I didn't get a kiss." He complained teasingly.

"You know if I kiss you I'll just want more sex right now."

"I know."

We made love again, going slow this time. Edward let me be on top, our bodies stretched out against together. We learned all the different angles of each other. Learning where the more sensitive spots were, and places to avoid. What each of us liked and didn't like. I loved the way Edward drifted his hands up and down my back, the way he held me like there was nothing else in the world except us. Like there was nothing else that mattered except this moment. He loved how I would rake my hands through his hair and pull his mouth hard against mine. When he finally released me from his arms, not that I left willingly, it was almost nine. He was going to be driving very fast today.

~*~*~*~*

I don't know how Edward did it, but we managed to get home at nine. I had slept most of the way again and spent the other time talking with Edward with my hand resting on his thigh. He seemed to enjoy that since I kept catching him looking at it every couple of minutes. I knew what he had been thinking about. I hadn't been in the shower more than two minutes when I heard the glass door open and two strong, cool arms wrap around my waist. I don't need to tell you that the water was cold when we got out.

But I didn't sleep because I was exhausted from all the sex in the last twenty-four hours, although that was part of it. My brain had finally settled and it wanted to rest. I hadn't had nightmares in three nights. I knew it had everything to do with the vampire who's arms I'd slept in. I was never going to get another night's rest without Edward beside me. He was my ultimate security blanket. I can't sleep without him. I need him more than even I understand.

"Bella, wake up. We're home."

I opened my eyes slowly and looked out the window of Edward's Volvo. Charlie's cruiser wasn't in the driveway, he was working late I assumed. I undid my belt and got out with Edward. He handed me my bag from the truck and took my hand as we walked up to the door.

"I think I'm gonna make some dinner for myself, I'm starving. You won't mind throwing this in the laundry for me, would you?" I asked indicating the bag I was carrying. "You can throw your stuff in as well."

"Yeah, I'll do that for you. But I don't need to do my clothes here."

"Just throw them in." I said retrieving my key from under the eave. I unlocked the door and looked up at Edward. "You might as well leave a bag of clothes here anyway. You'll probably need them in the near future." I was sure Edward knew exactly what I was referring to considering the tone in my voice.

"If you insist." He said politely, a cocky smile at his lips. He held the door open for me.

While Edward went through all of the laundry, sorting into separate loads, I fried some fish for myself and Charlie I didn't know if he was going to be hungry when he got home, so I just made extra for him. I stood at the stove watching and waiting to flip it when I heard the front door open. I covered my mouth to suppress the cough that racked through me. Where had that come from?

"That sounds real nice." Charlie said from the door.

"What does?" I asked looking over my shoulder at him, rubbing the front of my chest.

"That cough. Whatcha cooking? It smells good."

"Fish." I turned around and covered my mouth again as another deep, rough cough escaped. "Ow…" I rubbed my chest a little more. "I guess that's what I get for running through the rain yesterday and barely sleeping this week."

"How was the trip besides that?" Charlie asked sitting at table and picking up the paper.

"Good. We went hiking. Edward took me on a picnic. We hung out by a river… It was good." I turned back to the stove and flipped the fish the turned back to Charlie.

"Is he here?"

"Yeah, he's doing our laundry."

"Did you share a tent with him?"

"Dad, come on."

Charlie looked up at me. "Bells, did you share a tent with him?" he repeated. He wasn't going to let me off the hook. Great, come up with a good story, Bella.

"Not the first night. I shared with Alice and Jasper shared with Edward. There was storm that blew overhead Sunday night, and I got scared so Jasper and I switched, and I shared with Edward for the rest of the week after that."

"Did you sleep with him?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, I shared a tent with him, Dad. Of course I slept with him."

"No," Charlie looked up from the article he had been perusing. "I mean, did you sleep with him, sleep with him?"

"Dad! Please, Edward is down the hall and he can probably hear this conversation." I knew he could hear this conversation for a fact, and I could just the see the smile on his face. Cocky. I stood there for a moment contemplating an answer. Should I tell him or not? If I do tell him, do I need to make a mad dash for his gun to grab before he does? "Why do you ask?" That would buy me another couple seconds.

"You're carrying yourself differently. You're more open… relaxed."

I held my forehead for a moment. Damn. "Ok, yeah, I slept with him, Dad."

"Were you safe?"

"Dad, come on!" I half yelled, exasperated. "This is embarrassing. I've already gone through this with mom, several times actually. Ok, no, we didn't use that…. I'm on birth control." I mumbled the last part.

"Renee?" Charlie asked looking back down at the paper.

"Yeah. She made me go on it when I turned thirteen. She bribed me. Fifty bucks." I turned back to the stove and scooped the fish onto two separate plates. I carried Charlie's over to him and then ate mine leaning back against the counter. "So, do you want to kill him?"

"This may shock you, Bells, but I don't care that you're sleeping with your boyfriend."

I looked at him, completely shocked and not sure I had heard correctly. "What?" I asked staring at Charlie incresuously. "You don't want to shoot him, defend my honor?"

"Bells," Charlie looked up at me putting his fork down, "You're a grown woman. You're smart, I know you're not going to make dumb mistakes about this. You've been stressed lately and if he's found a way to keep you from losing your mind again, then I'm not going to get in the middle of it." Charlie got up and carried his empty plate over to the sink then turned to look at me.

"Dad, I'm in love with him and he's in love with me."

"I know. And I know that you're both responsible adults. You'll make the right choices. Just take care of each other." He smiled at me and started to leave the kitchen but turned in the doorway. "Just don't make the same mistakes that you're mother and I did by rushing into things. Thanks for the fish, Bella." He smiled again and then disappeared up the stairs.

"Wow." Edward said from the doorway. He must have been waiting for Charlie to leave. I placed half finished plate behind me on the counter.

"You heard all of that didn't you?"

"Every word."

I groaned, embarrassed, and covered my face with my hands.

"I'm impressed." Edward said quietly. I heard him walk over to me and he too my hands down. "I didn't know you were on medication, though. That's a load off my mind, I'll tell you. I've been scared of that and thinking what to do about protection cause… To be honest… I think I prefer bareback."

I stared up at him and shook my head. "What?" he asked smirking,

"Nothing. Yeah, I don't see you as a condom guy." I breathed loudly. "Well good, we've gotten that conversation out of the way. Now I can go throw up." I started to move past Edward so he wouldn't see the scarlet color I was currently sporting in my cheeks.

"Hey, stop, don't do that." He said catching my hand and pulling me back. "Why are you so embarrassed?" he asked pinning my back to the counter. He put his arms out on either side of me trapping me there.

"I don't know… Because I've never been through this before? Did Esme or Carlisle ever have the "sex talk" with you."

"Only recently, and it was more a warning than a talk. Because you're human and all. I asked Carlisle questions first though, so really it was me who initiated it. I figured it was inevitable so I wanted to know how to look at the situation from all angles."

"Should I take that offensively?" I asked, curious and confused.

"No, not at all." Edward smiled down at me. "I'm surprised, though, that Charlie doesn't want to kill me."

"You mean try to kill you." I corrected him, winding my arms slowly around his neck. Edward wrapped his around my waist in return then leaned down and closed the space between our mouths.


End file.
